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“It was one heck of a ride. It really was. We came into the tournament confident."

CHAPEL HILL – UNC baseball is gearing up for the NCAA tournament—play begins this Friday for the Heels in Chapel Hill.

And for the first time ever, Carolina earned the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament—coming a day after the Heels claimed the ACC Championship in dramatic fashion.

Only a freshman, outfielder Skye Bolt is taking it all in.

“It was one heck of a ride. It really was. We came into the tournament confident,” Bolt said. “We started out with a big blow against Miami and put up ten runs there. We got back to that swagger that we had at the beginning of the season.”

The Diamond Heels suffered two consecutive series losses against Virginia and Georgia Tech earlier this month.

“It’s part of any season. You have your highs and your lows. Fortunately for us, ours came against two of the top teams in the nation,” Bolt said.

Bolt himself had to battle back from a low point in his season. During play against Virginia Tech in April, he fractured his right foot after fouling a ball off it. He missed 17 games during the stretch, returning to play against Appalachian State. And Bolt says he’s almost back to where he was pre-injury.

“I had to put myself in the game before I got back in it. That’s what you have to do—is put yourself into your teammate’s spots and put yourself in their situations.”

Bolt says the winning the ACC Championship this past weekend wasn’t just about the big names on the team stepping up.

“We fought all the way through. Pitching has always been our preaching and the performance of eight of our guys made the difference,” he said. “A freshman came of the bench that hadn’t seen many innings this whole season. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be standing here talking about how great of a weekend it was and how fun it was.”

The Tar Heels begin NCAA tournament play on Friday at 6:00, in Boshamer Stadium against No. 4 seed Canisius.

You can hear that game, and all of Carolina’s games throughout the weekend, live on 97.9 FM WCHL. It will also be streaming live at Chapelboro.com.

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